Suma

After an indiscreet affair with the Crown Prince's future wife, the hero
of The Tale of Genji decides that self-exile would be prudent and
travels to Suma and Akashi, near present-day
Kobe, in the second part of the Tale.

View from above Suma beach.

In Heian times, Suma was forested mountain slopes leading down to a
desolate beach. Today, the thin strip of land between hills and beach
supports a road and railway. Ugly concrete buttresses support the slopes
that have been cut away for the rail track and for houses.